Identifying and illuminating live Grateful Dead shows (and shows by band members) that are unknown or poorly documented.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Jerry Garcia Band Personnel 1975-1995

The cover to Cats Under The Stars, the Jerry Garcia Band

's 1978 album

So much new information has come to light about the exact personnel
configurations of the Jerry Garcia Band that I decided to make a list.
It made more sense to publish the list, so here it is. In general, this
list supersedes anything on the Jerry Site or Deadbase IX. I have
linked to various posts (mine and others) where some information has
come to light. In some cases, I have sorted out some information, but I
have not yet written the posts yet. If I launch into explanations for
everything, the post will be unreadable, so you'll have to take my word
for a few things until I finally complete the appropriate posts.

This
list is focused on actual members of the Jerry Garcia Band, or
substitutions for those members. I have not attempted to include any
guests, such as times when Maria Muldaur may have made guest appearances
prior to 'officially' joining the band, or some Clarence Clemons
appearances in September 1989, and so on. I am concerned about 'first'
and 'last' shows for each lineup, but I am not trying to create a thread
for discussing shows that are in and of themselves disputed.

The
numbering system for each lineup is arbitrary, and only exists in
order to facilitate discussing the lineups in the Comments. Anyone with
additions, corrections, insights or speculation is encouraged to chime
in. I am conceiving of this post as a permanent installation, and I will
make changes to the list as new information comes to light.

Notes;
in the period between the end of Legion Of Mary and the beginning of
the Jerry Garcia Band with Nicky Hopkins (JGB #1), Garcia played a few
dates with the Keith and Donna Band.
A few of them were billed as "The Jerry Garcia Band." Whether this was a
result of confusion on the club owner's part or because the dates were
booked before Hopkins was ready is unclear. Since some dates were booked
as Jerry Garcia Band, I am including this lineup on my list.

Notes: This lineup was usually billed as "The Jerry Garcia Band with Nicky Hopkins." The lineup also recorded part of Reflections,
although Larry Knechtel played many of the piano parts instead of
Hopkins. Gregg Errico played the final show because Ron Tutt was playing
with Elvis Presley.

Notes:
I have a lot to say about this, but you'll just have to trust me for
now. I do not actually know yet how the Sophie's shows were billed (update: I finally got around to it. An eyewitness also reports that the shows were billed as The Jerry Garcia Band).

Notes: I
have a lot to say about these shows as well, but it's too long to
summarize. For some reason, Phil Lesh substituted for John Kahn for the
debut of the vocalists. There may have been a 'stealth' warmup show with
Phil Lesh on bass in Salinas on June 24, as well. For now, you'll have
to wait until the full post.

Notes:
This lineup seems to have been the first iteration of the permanent
structure of the Jerry Garcia Band, with Melvin Seals and two female
vocalists. Essra Mohawk was Daoud Shaw's wife, and Liz Stires was Jimmy
Warren's girlfriend, so the JGB replicated its previous vocal team,
using the wife and girlfriend of two band members. Mohawk was a
successful songwriter and vocalist in her own right, and may have only
planned to be part of the band for a brief time in any case. Phil Lesh
filled in for another show in Fairfax, some sort of Benefit that was
booked at the last minute.

Notes:
Local singer Julie Stafford replaced Mohawk on a more permanent basis.
Shaw left also, and both of them returned to Philadelphia. Bill
Kreutzmann filled in for a few shows, for the first time since the days
of the Garcia/Saunders band. I saw the September 7 show, so I am certain about Kreutzmann's presence. I am just guessing about the trio of shows at the Keystones that followed (September 18-20). It's not impossible that Tutt played those shows.

Notes: The voice of Steve Marcus on the Grateful Dead Hotline announced this tour as "The Return Of Ron Tutt." Run For The Roses was also recorded during this period, with Tutt playing the drums, and that would not at all have been by chance. Although Roses was not a satisfying album, it was a sign of Garcia's seriousness that the tracks were recorded when Tutt was available.

Notes:
David Kemper began his long run as drummer for the Jerry Garcia Band in
July of 1983. Nobody in the band had met him beforehand--Kahn had
simply called a producer friend in Los Angeles and asked him who was
good. Kemper, who had been a studio musician since 1966, was good
alright--really good. He stayed for 10 years.

Notes:
Gaylord Birch played 10 JGB gigs during this stretch, all in the Bay
Area. I presume that Kemper had another commitment, and since Birch was
an established quantity from his time in Reconstruction, he was a
comfortable choice as a sub.

Notes:
For reasons unknown, Kemper was replaced after 10 years by Don Baldwin.
Baldwin had played with Melvin Seals and Mickey Thomas in the Elvin
Bishop Group in the 70s, and then had joined Thomas in the Starship in
the 1980s. Presumably Seals recommended him for the Garcia Band,
although Garcia and Kahn would have been familiar with his drumming from
the past.

This has never been explained. There were various studio crossings, and the occasional one-off live gig (Merl sat in with JGB in June of '81, and with the GD in March of '85), but nothing systematic. Presumably it's a lot of things, not all of them complicated.

Jerry and Merl did play together after Reconstruction, on the 'Twilight Zone' soundtrack, a Merl solo album, and the occasional sit-in. So they were still friends. However, Jerry's pattern with his own bands seems to have simply been to move forward and have change for the sake of change. I think Jerry enjoyed changing drummers and so on (even if the drummers didn't), because it made for a new experience.

I interviewed Merl on KZFR-FM in 1999. I asked him when he last played with Jerry and he said he couldn't remember when they last performed onstage together, but that they played music in private quite a bit.

One of the functions of this post was to act as an ongoing footnote to that sort of discussion. My current opinion was that the Garcia Band, in contrast to the date, was designed to change. As the band became more static, it became less exciting.

"Jerry and Merl did play together after Reconstruction, on the 'Twilight Zone' soundtrack"

I saw Merl a bunch of times in the late 90's and early 00's, and at one of the shows during the between song banter he mentioned that most (if not all, I can't remember) of "Jerry's" playing on the 'Twilight Zone' soundtrack was Michael Hinton. I think that he said it during his show that he played on the one year anniversary of Jerry's death, and that Jerry had allowed Merl to use his name to get the contract with CBS. He told a lot of stories during that show, including how nobody would tell him what hospital Jerry was in during his coma, and how he had to find him on his own. I'll have to listen to it again tonight to refresh my memory.

Jeremy, that's a very interesting little tidbit about the Twilight Zone soundtrack. I find it completely believable. Jerry was a generous guy, but I always wondered where he found the time to do all those little musical vignettes. Maybe he just didn't, but was more than willing to let Merl use his name.

I hope it was actually Jerry on the "neener-neener" theme, though, just for the sake of history.

I saw a JGB show at the Warfield sometime in the late 80's or early 90's where there was a drummer who looked like a deadhead they pulled out of the crowd. He wasn't very good. It might have been around the time that Birch played with them. Any ideas about who/when this was? I saw a bunch of shows 84-86 and then a few in the 90-94 era. Sorry I can't be more specific.

This interview with David Kemper gives some insight into the band during his tenure: http://www.well.com/user/shmo/kemper.html Judging by what he says, I think it would be hard to make any statement about what Garcia's patterns for his band were.

Dr.Jeff, The Jerry Garcia Band didn't play the Warfield until late 1987 (save for a single show on Jun 26 '81, which I saw, with Daoud Shaw on drums). David Kemper might look like a Deadhead from some angles (as opposed to the African American Gaylord Birch). He was a great drummer, but he could have just been having an off night. Do you think the drummer wasn't Kemper?

Twilight Zone soundtrack:While introducing Michael Hinton on 8/9/1996: "We did the Twilight Zone. Back in the 80's, '83 and '84 I was the musical director. When Jerome couldn't come in--and CBS didn't know, they were just tickled to death we were doin' it--and pretty soon Jerry wasn't into it sometimes, you know. He'd say, "Merl, it's cloudy today. Do I have to come in?" I'd say, uh that's okay, and I'd call up Michael Hinton, and he would play his parts, you know. So a lot of those parts that'cha heard, some of 'em were Jer some of 'em were Michael Hinton, ya know. [laughs] We can tell CBS now, ten years later, ya know."

I saw Kemper a dozen times at least, Birch once, and this guy wasn't either of them. It was an amateur, I'm telling you. A review (on rec.music.gdead) said he was using a lot of drummer cliches if that makes sense. Maybe it was the Stone?

Dr. Jeff, one of the maddening things about the Garcia Band was that they performed in a weird vacuum. No press releases, no interviews, no reviews, no stage announcements. It's fascinating but not surprising to find out about a substitute drummer whose presence was never identified. Kemper was a busy guy, and must have had a conflict.

In defense of whoever the guy was, it had to be hard to sit in with a band in front of a few thousand people with little or no rehearsal. Kemper accurately described the JGB style with the immortal phrase "one foot on the gas and the other on the brake" and that had to be hard to step into cold.

Yes, it's true. I don't mean to slander the guy publicly, and it clearly doesn't count as a version of the band. I just thought it was strange that a guy of Jerry's caliber couldn't pull in someone better if he needed a sub on short notice.

One of the things we tend to lose sight of was how deceptively difficult the Jerry Garcia Band would have been to play with. I can imagine a lot of pretty good rock drummers would find themselves completely thrown for a loop trying to play with Garcia and Kahn, particularly since those two and Melvin were together for 15 years.

Another thing we lose sight of was what great drummers Garcia actually used. Guys like Paul Humphrey, Ron Tutt and David Kemper weren't just "pretty good," they were among the finest drummers in the music industry.

I'm still interested in who that sub might have been, just to trace out the various connections.

On February 4, 1994 Garcia introduces Donnie Baldwin. On the amazing Chuck Vasseur recording (shnid 15602), during d1t04 (I don't know where in the track), Garcia says "The new guy is Donnie Baldwin, playing drums."

OK for the record, it was Baldwin, and it was his 3rd show with JGB (2/6/94) that I saw him. And I had never seen him before, having mainly seen Kemper (and a couple of Birch shows). There you have it.

Liz Stires is definitely not present on 6/23/82. I'll be checking out 6/24/82 soonish. But we she's probably gone and #14d is probably this sextet for these two dates (three shows, since there were early/late shows on 6/24).

Have been digging in to early 80s JGB with a fellow deadhead buddy of mine. Pretty sure that Jimmy Warren wasn't present on 7-26. Here is my write up for that show that I just sent my friend: Overall great show. Sound is great. If the masters were available I think it's actually release-worthy, (more on that later)

First few songs pretty standard. I must say though that the background vocalists aren't as good at Donna and Maria Muldaur were or later how Jackie and Gloria were. Tough Mama is definitely a different feel than the LOM versions, a bit faster, but pretty solid. Mississippi Moon is stellar - you can hear how Melvin really found his place after a few months. (earlier tracks prove this too) The real fun starts with the closer pairing of Don't Let Go>Tangled. I actually don't like the arrangement of Tangled up in Blue very much with the La-La-La's and all but this performance is really good. Makes me remember what an awesome song it is. Again Melvin really shines.

Second Set is really nice too. Not quite as jammed out as LOM or some of the previous incarnations of JGB were but certainly had more raw energy than the last few years with Keith. Midnight Moonlight is smoking.

I think this era really illustrates what JGB was about to become. Although there were some lineup changes the formula stayed the same. 2 chicks + Melvin, Kahn and drummer. This would be the way it was for the next 14 years. This show is different from my stereotype of early 80s JGB, tight playing, solid vocals, didn't seem rushed or too up tempo, but was harder driving than the previous Garcia bands.

Sound of the tape is quite good, a bit hissy at quiet parts (Mississippi Moon for example) but well balanced with everyone clear in the mix. I hope that this and other masters are around somewhere and see the light of day.Anthony Zembrodt / zembrodt@hotmail.com

I am really confused about November-December '83 tour. All mentions of the names say it is Jaclyn LaBranch and DeeDee Dickerson, the latter instead of Gloria Jones. These include John Scher materials, and he was very tied-in with Garcia Band. Even more consequentially, I have a copy of the band's tour itinerary, and Dickerson's travel is laid out (she spent Thanksgiving, 11/24/83, in St. Louis, for example).

It would throw our chronologies all akimbo to have her still there (or again) at that point.

I don't know the proper starting date for Gloria Jones at this point, nor do I know about the #22 configuration. If the research gods smile on me, someday I might be able to access the relevant contracts, but that has not happened in 10+ years of chasing them.